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How GMPF is run

How GMPF is run?

GMPF is one of 86 funds that make up the LGPS in England and Wales. These funds are run by administering authorities, which are councils that have been given responsibility for running the LGPS locally. Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (Tameside MBC) is the administering authority for GMPF.

How does Tameside MBC run GMPF?

Tameside MBC delegates the day to day running of GMPF to a committee called the Pension Fund Management Panel and the Director of Pensions. An Advisory Panel supports the Management Panel. The panel set up three working groups that consider areas of GMPF’s work in more detail and make recommendations.

Every LGPS fund also has a local pension board. This board supports the Pension Fund Management Panel by carrying out a scrutiny role, ensuring GMPF is managed and administered effectively and efficiently and that it complies with the code of practice on governance and administration issued by the Pensions Regulator.

Pension Fund Management Panel

Panel's Key Responsibilities

  • Pay pensions and ensure the fund has sufficient money to meet liabilities
  • Consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in decision-making
  • Set and oversee the administration strategy
  • Approve and monitor policies and fundingmatters

The panel is made up of Tameside MBC councillors, councillors from other Greater Manchester councils and a representative from the Ministry of Justice. The Advisory Panel, which sits alongside the Pension Fund Management Panel, is there to offer advice and guidance to panel members and officers. It is made up of one councillor from each of the nine other Greater Manchester councils and trade union representatives from GMB, Unison and Unite.

The panel can set up working groups to consider matters in more detail and then make recommendations to it. The working groups are made up of a subset of Pension Fund Management Panel members. There are currently three working groups, which are:

Policy & Development Working Group

This working group considers policy matters that affect pensions and the wider LGPS.

Investment Monitoring & ESG Working Group

This working group considers policy matters that affect pensions and the wider LGPS.

Administration, Employer Funding & Viability Working Group

This working group considers how GMPF is administering pensions, how it communicates with members & considers funding issues.

Local Pension Board

This board’s main role is to make sure GMPF complies with the LGPS Regulations and any other legislation relating to the governance and administration of pensions. 

Learn More

Who regulates GMPF?

  • Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)

    Has overall responsibility for the LGPS in England and Wales. It oversees investment pooling, funding, scheme participation and overall scheme costs, and can issue statutory guidance and consultations to change LGPS rules.

  • The Pensions Regulator 
(TPR)

    Regulates scheme administration and governance. It ensures LGPS funds are properly run, with effective controls in place, contributions collected on time, and member communications produced promptly.

  • The Pensions Regulator (TPR)

    Investigates complaints about pension administration and arbitrates disputes between members and GMPF.

What is the Northern LGPS and how does this fit in?

Origins

In 2014, the Government asked the LGPS funds in England and Wales to work together to create investment pools to achieve efficiency savings and invest more in infrastructure. GMPF teamed up with West Yorkshire Pension Fund and Merseyside Pension Fund to form the Northern LGPS. 

Functions

The Northern LGPS invests in alternative asset classes such as private equity and infrastructure. The Northern LGPS Joint Committee is an oversight committee. It determines key strategic objectives and examines the day to day decisions made by a group of governing officers. Management panel members from the three Northern LGPS pension funds sit on this joint committee.